An Afternoon at El Sur Records

Nov 9, 2010

Yesterday I had a great afternoon chat with Harada-san, the owner of El Sur Records in Shibuya. El Sur is a “world music” shop; albums and CDs from Brazil, Africa, the Middle East..pretty much everywhere. It’s where I acquired my entire Franco & OK Jazz collection (12 albums and 11 CDs so far) as well as numerous West African albums.

Harada-san is a free spirit. He’s played in a blues band, travelled around the world and has had El Sur open now for more than 15 years. Sitting at his counter and drinking coffee, we talked for an hour or so about the latest news, African records, and then watched some vintage 1970s Japanese funky Enka You Tube clips. I’m ready now to sing そして神戸 at my next karaoke snack pub visit.

Mr. OK Jazz is a 20+ year resident of Japan and spends all his free time wandering the Kanto area looking for jazz cafes, bars, clubs and record stores. For two years he hosted the OK Jazz radio show on InterFM Radio, currently the OK Jazz podcast. You can reach him at *protected email*

TOKYO JAZZ SITE

A guide to Jazz bars, clubs, cafes and shops in the Tokyo and Yokohama city areas. Also home to the OK Jazz Podcast, playing World Music, Jazz, Soul, Funk, Blues and more, also info about live music events, gigs and festivals around town.